BREEDING SWINE 375 



a day. The remainder of his food may consist of grass, 

 green clover, tares, or lucerne, or a limited quantity of 

 cabbages in summer; and turnips, swedes, kohl-rabi, and 

 mangels during the eight months from the end of August to 

 the end of April." An excess of cabbage or of kohl-rabi is 

 liable to produce constipation, especially in pigs that have 

 little exercise. 



Breeding Swine should always be treated gently, and run 

 out till near farrowing time to save expense, and to get 

 plenty of exercise and abundance of green food ; but richer 

 milk-making food should be added a week or two before the 

 litter is expected. The period of a sow's gestation is sixteen 

 weeks. There ought to be six or eight pigs reared in the 

 first litter, and ten to twelve or even more in each after-litter, 

 if- the sow has teats enough. It is bad practice to permit a 

 brood-sow to suckle more pigs at a time than the number of 

 her teats, as the weak ones are invariably kept back by the 

 strong, starved, and stunted in growth, so that they do not 

 pay to feed if they live. Milk goes away if a teat is not 

 required and not sucked, but it returns next time should the 

 litter be larger. Four sharp little needlelike tusks, which 

 appear in some young pigs, have to be broken off to prevent 

 them injuring the teat and making the sow restless. A bad 

 milker, or one which kills or eats her young, ought to be 

 fattened off. Gentleness of disposition is an essential to 

 success. Sows kept to breed pigs for fattening pay best if 

 fed for bacon after the second or third litter is weaned. Pigs 

 are usually weaned when about six or eight weeks old, and a 

 sow comes in season for the first time after breeding (according 

 to condition) about three days to one week after the pigs 

 are removed. Forty-six to fifty weeks are thus occupied, 

 according to the age of weaning. Although we do not 

 advocate the practice, as it is unnatural, a sow may be made 

 to have five litters in two years, in place of two litters in one 

 year, by beginning to feed the young on milk at two or three 

 weeks old, gradually thickening the milk with oatmeal por- 

 ridge, and, after a little, turning the mother out during the 

 day and feeding her liberally. She should then take the boar 

 before the pigs are weaned, when they are about five weeks 

 old. When milking very heavily, an animal is not in that 

 condition in which she is most likely to come in season or 



